Various devices have been developed to deliver balls to a practicing baseball batter or tennis player. Most known systems provide some means for tossing, pitching or launching a ball into the general swing path area typically encountered in actual game play.
Some devices, such as those shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,080,859; 3,368,541; 3,394,691; and 3,612,027, are loaded with a single ball and have many associated disadvantages. Upon release by a foot actuator, the ball is hurled vertically into the user's swing path. This vertical launch is somewhat unnatural in comparison to the substantially horizontal flight of a normal pitch. These devices require loading, and sometimes recocking, before each "pitch" and swing, and it is sometimes difficult to maintain a correct batter's stance while activating these devices. These ground-based devices also rely on propelling mechanisms to hurl the ball upwardly, and such forces can present a danger to young children, practicing without adult supervision.
Other known ball delivering systems store multiple balls. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,282,848; 4,676,504; 4,896,646; and 5,066,010 disclose mechanized multiple ball delivery systems. These mechanized systems are sometimes electrically driven, requiring access to an electric outlet. Others have multi-component mechanisms having interconnected gears, springs and detents to control the feed of the balls. Electrically powered systems can expose unattended children to the risk of electrocution, and complicated mechanisms can endanger unattended children who attempt to repair a mechanism broken during practice or play.